In recent years, techniques for preparing polymer alloys by blending a plurality of different types of polymers have been actively researched to obtain polymers having improved physical properties. A polymer alloy is prepared by blending a plurality of different types of polymers for the purpose of obtaining a polymer combining the characteristics of all the polymers blended. Such a polymer alloy is formed from existing polymers, and therefore there are advantages that the properties of a novel polymer obtained by polymer blending can be predicted and that risks associated with the development of a polymer alloy are less than those associated with the development of a novel polymer. For this reason, attention is being given to the development of polymer alloys in the fields of automobile parts, electric and electronic material parts, and the like.
However, when polymers to be blended have an incompatible relationship that they are not dissolved therewith each other, there is a case where the polymers are not sufficiently dispersed simply by blending them together so that a modification effect is not obtained. It is known that, in such a case, dispersibility of both polymer phases can be improved by using a compatibilizing agent. Various compatibilizing agents have been reported. For example, it is described that describes that addition of layered silicate to a blend of polyamide and polyphenylene oxide makes it possible to selectively disperse the layered silicate in a polyamide phase, thereby allowing a polymer alloy having a controlled higher-order structure to be produced (Non-Patent Document 1). However, in this document, target polymers are only polyamide and polyphenylene oxide, and there is no description about preparation of polymer alloys obtained by blending a variety of polymers having different behaviors.
Patent Documents 1 to 3 each disclose a method for producing a layered titanate which can be used as a raw material of a compatibilizing agent according to the present invention.
Non-Patent Document 1: Y. Li and H. Shimizu; Polymer, 45, 7381-7388 (2004)
Patent Document 1: WO 99/11574
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 3062497
Patent Document 3: WO 03/037797